Thoughtleadership for Successful
CRM and Sales Process

Posts Tagged as‘sales performance’

As the CEO of a CRM company, I often get asked the question why CRM systems in some companies don’t get used by the salesforce. Companies invest thousands of dollars in their CRM system and often find the adoption rate is not what they expected.

Here are the top ten quotes I hear why the CRM system did not get the adoption that was initially expected:

1. “All of this time I spend typing could be spent selling!”

2. “My company now has access to all of the customer relationships I built … which I feel I own. The company could fire me tomorrow and keep all of the contacts and relationships I've built!”

3.“There is little to no added benefit to me, with lots of value to big brother!”

4. “I'm on the road all day selling … and then am expected to update the CRM when I get home or back to the office after a long day!”

10. “It provides too much visibility & accountability into what I'm really doing, and I like it better when I can play my hand close to the vest until the end of the month/quarter!”

To address these top 10 “adoption excuses,” here are the seven best practices I’ve learned over the years to maximize adoption and usage.

Make it a productivity carrot.The CRM needs to be positioned as a tool that will help the sales organization sell more goods and services so they earn larger commissions. Sounds simple. I see many management teams however, using their CRM as simply a reporting stick for their sale teams.

Tools such as presentation templates, proposal documents, personal reporting tools, task lists, Outlook integration and sales process checklists will improve the efficiency and productivity of the sales team. Very quickly, you need to demonstrate to the sales team WIFM (“what’s in it for me”).

Use it to manage your organization.If you’re the sales VP, run your meetings and reviews from the CRM, including forecast meetings, pipeline reviews and exception reporting. Establish dashboards which you share with your sales leaders to show them you personally are leveraging and using the system. Also ensure senior management is using and benefiting from the system. Bottom-line, you should lead by example.

Get the data right.A CRM works only if the underlying data is correct. You need to have best practices to make sure data is consistent, clean and maintained. Establish drop down fields where appropriate to ensure data integrity. Each person who using the CRM must take personal ownership of the integrity of the data.

Train the team. It should go without saying, if the sales staff is not trained on how to benefit from using the CRM, it will not get used. Many CRM vendors like CampaignerCRM have comprehensive end-user training sessions that can be leveraged so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

The training should reinforce the sales process, organizational terminology, custom fields and other tools to make it contextually relevant. A role-based training may make sense depending on the size of the organization. Ideally the training is done as close as possible to the go-live date for the CRM. Many vendors will customize this training for your organization.

Sounds simple, but many companies do not have proper training plans to support the rollout of the system.

Integrate Your Sales ToolsMany CRM’s include libraries to maintain customer engagement letters, product presentations, price lists, catalogs, contracts, etc. Make sure the CRM is populated with the current version of all the documents and collateral at launch.

Flow All New Leads to the CRM The lifeblood of any sales organization is new leads. Make the CRM the single source of all new leads for the sales team.

Spread the word.Here’s several ways to reinforce adoption. When appropriate distribute “success stories” of those that have used the CRM effectively to close business. You may also want to consider contests and spiffs to reinforce adoption. I’d suggest every job description and performance appraisal within the sales team should include reference to using the CRM.

The ultimate adoption strategy for any CRM is the sales team realizing higher bookings and commissions from using the system. The seven best practices above will help the sales team realize the CRM is a tool that can truly help increase customer loyalty and help them sell more, which is the ultimate way to deal with the top 10 excuses!

Because I like to keep tabs on what’s going on in my industry, and because I’m a generally curious person, I decided to do a search of all of the different CRM solutions someone could choose from. This simple competitive survey turned up 106 CRM solutions in the marketplace! And that was just a simple search. Ugh, where should I start?

As the CEO of a company that provides a web-based CRM product, the plethora of solutions presents differentiation challenges for us as a company. But the challenges are even greater when you’re an individual trying to evaluate the potential solutions for use within a company.

Here’s my suggestion on the seven questions you should ask your CRM vendor to simplify the evaluation process and help select the CRM Solution that is the right solution for you - and for your organization.

1. What is your market focus?

One way to whittle the list of potential vendors to a much shorter number is to consider the “market focus” of the vendor. For example, an SMB should never consider a CRM solution focused on enterprise accounts. The reverse is true as well. I find many companies waste time with vendors where market focus is not aligned.

2. Will your CRM solve my most pressing problems?

Once you are convinced the vendor has the right “market focus,” you need to make sure the solution solves your company's most pressing marketing, sales, or service issues. I’ve found the list of issues can vary wildly from company to company. You need to make sure upfront that you know what problems you are trying to solve with a CRM system.

CRM’s have hundreds of features, reports and tools. If none of them address the issues you are trying to solve, then the long list of checkmarked features is meaningless. Talk to the CRM vendors you are evaluating and share the exact problems or challenges you are experiencing. Be sure to get visual confirmation that the solution can address your most important issues.

3. Can I take a test drive the CRM with my data?

One of the best ways to see if the solution can solve your biggest challenges is to take a test drive with YOUR data. Ask the CRM vendor to have contacts, opportunities, tasks, events, and sales processes uploaded into the CRM. This will allow you to test the CRM solution with familiar data and insure that it will be a good fit for your organization.

Be sure to also ask for help uploading the data to make sure it’s configured correctly from the start. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to set things up wrong and then not know why, immediately making your experience more difficult than necessary. Besides, a good CRM company should be ready – and willing - to help you set things up.

4. Who’s going to help me set-up my CRM and train my salesforce?

If your vendor has satisfactory answers for the first three questions, the next thing you want to consider is what types of set-up, support, and professional services are offered to help make your CRM’s operation and adoption successful. Do they have a professional services group that can help provide the expertise you need to get the system customized and up and running? Next, evaluate what type of help is available to help you train your sales team.

You may also want to ask the question whether this training is an internal or external resource and the cost. I’ve found that no one is better equipped to launch, train and support a new customer like the provider of the solution (vs. an outside third party or consultant).

5. What does your product roadmap look like over the next 6-12 months? Do I have a an opportunity to add in your comments, suggestions, or wishes?

Like all software companies, CRM providers do not have unlimited engineering budgets. You should however, make sure there is a product roadmap that fits with your strategic needs and wants as a customer. You should also make sure there is a feedback mechanism (product council, advisory board, suggestion list, etc.) where you have the ability to voice your opinion on what features you would like to see in the product.

6. How easy is it to customize your solution for my business?

Your needs and requirements are very different from everyone else’s, and yes, those needs will change over time. Ask the right questions during the buying process to make sure you are comfortable that the CRM system is easy enough to customize now, AND as the needs of your business change.

If you bring in a new head of sales, they will want the system to be changed to reflect any new strategies, tactics and sales processes. You will need to make modifications to your CRM system to support this shift in direction. Your CRM needs to be flexible enough to make this change simple and easy.

You also want to make sure you can add all the custom fields necessary to fit your business model as well as be able to customize or build any unique reports.

Finally, ask whether there’s a cost involved in having someone help you if you need specialized customization.

7. Ok, so what’s the price?

This should be your last question. Your major goal should be to ask the right questions to buy the right solution for your business. Price of course is important, but should be secondary to the above questions. You want to make sure you are investing enough to buy a service that addresses your most pressing business problems and one that can grow with your organization. The costs and damages associated with buying the wrong CRM solution will far exceed the higher price tag of a CRM Solution that is right for your organization.

The bottom line: determine your needs, ask the right questions and then take the CRM for a test drive with your data. Because a CRM system is something you and your organization should expect to live with for a long time, investing a little effort at the beginning will pay big divedends in the long run.

You are a sales rep. Whether inside or outside, it doesn't matter. You receive qualified leads from your company's strange and inexplicable entity called "marketing." OK, qualified has many definitions and they may not be truly qualified but let’s at least assume they want to talk to you and hear about your offering.

Your job? Contact, further qualify and get the order.

Your product? Of course you're enthusiastic about it. You've grown to love it and you can think of a thousand reasons why it's better than all the others - especially your competitors'. You've made hundreds of calls before and can't wait to explain why your product is the best, what benefits it provides, how much it saves and how fast it makes things go.

But often the one issue that both young and old sales rep alike have the hardest time doing is quite simple: listening. Listening to what the human on the other end of the phone has or has not said about their needs or problems, why they are considered a "lead" or even why they are talking to you are the most important takeaways from any sales conversation.

Here is the point: Sometimes, you have to get to "know" the person on the other end. Sure, it can be hard to hear, to listen especially when you have to make your points, to show your value, to not waste their time, to make the sale, move on to the next prospect and reach quota. It can be difficult to listen carefully to prospects.

Your prospects want you to take a real interest in them – the human in front of the problem you're looking to solve. You have to make them trust you. And by so doing, they will trust that your company will be there for them, that your product will do what you say it will do and what they want it to do. They'll also trust that your support organization will be there for them if there are problems.

So listen sincerely, earn their trust as a trusted advisor, hear their pain, feel their pain and show them the solution. You are not simply offering them features to utilize but a great deal more. It's a bigger picture involving many important and often overlooked variables. When you show you are ready to listen, prospects will open up to you.

If you are in sales, you have probably heard the phrase "the fortune is in the follow up." But what really does that mean? Does it mean you hound people over and over again until they are completely sick and tired of you and never want to hear your name again? Of course not! Conversely, there are some pretty simple things you can do that will really pay off in the end.

Studies show that it takes an average of 8 contacts with a prospect to finally convert a lead into a sale. Most sales associates stop at 2 contacts; the initial contact, either through a cold call, website form-lead or face-to-face chance greeting and the follow-up appointment after which a sale occurs or the client says "NO." Some prospects never even make it past the initial contact.

Having a system to track your contacts is essential. There are many systems out there, the key is to choose one that works for you and then, use it! For example, a preferable method might be to actually schedule the contacts and follow-ups right into your Customer Relationship Management solution (CRM).

When you meet a potential client on a chance face-to-face greeting and they show signs of the slightest interest, ask for his/her information before handing them your business card and then ask them if it's ok to follow-up with them in 1-2 days. If the timing is not convenient, always ask for an alternative day/time. Once scheduled, it's essential you follow up when you say you will.

Between the first contact and the agreed upon follow up, send a quick e-mail telling them you enjoyed speaking with them. Be sure to thank them for their interest and remind them of their commitment. This shows you care and lets the prospect know you are serious. By the time you actually sit to meet with them (or have your scheduled conference call), you now have made 3 contacts with this same person. Sometimes this will result in a sale, sometimes it won't. Regardless of the result, send that person an e-mail thanking them for their time, outlining what was discussed and confirming another meeting. You may want to also ask the prospect if more information is needed or requested. This is contact #4.

If more information was requested, perhaps in printed form, tell them you will send it out to them (or in whatever form is appropriate) and that you will follow-up in "x" days, and get commitment on that date. Then put the "appointment" in your CRM calendar and follow-up on time! After "x" days, call or meet with the client, asking them if they have any questions about the info you provided (Contact #5). At this point, you are way ahead of the average number of contacts and should have made a positive impression on this potential client. And by now, they probably remember your name.

Three possible outcomes are now available to you. They may say that this product is not for them, they still need more information, or they are not the person who ultimately makes the decision. If this just isn't the right time for them of if they are not the decision-maker, ask for the person who is or ask for a referral (remember by now hopefully you are on a first name basis, they like you and referrals are forthcoming). If they had questions during this last conversation, follow up in writing summarizing the answers you discussed and schedule another meeting (Contact #6). Or they may be ready to buy your product.

Contact #7 is another thank you note, this time handwritten (email is acceptable) thanking them for their consideration, their referral or hopefully the sale. If this still did not result in a sale, ask if you may contact them in "x" weeks or months to see if either their business initiatives has changed or you may have new features that meets their need. Schedule that into your CRM and in 6 months... FOLLOW UP.

If it did result in a sale, still contact them in 6 months and review with them how they like the product and if they have any issues, needs or comments. Using many different forms of communication and simply keeping your commitments will improve your chances of landing that deal. If you follow these suggestions and are persistent, you should find your "fortune in the follow-up"!

Everyone is fond of making a New Year's Resolution around this time of year—even in business. We start each New Year with high hopes and big plans. But when you look back at the last year, you have to ask, “What did you really do to help make your organization's sales performance improve?” If it's little or nothing, well, unfortunately, you're not alone.

The other day, while reading CSO Insights' 16th annual report titled "Sales Performance Optimization: 2010 Key Trends Analysis," I got a great look into what's really going on inside sales organizations all across the country. Not surprisingly, many of them seem to be having trouble moving the sales needle as effectively as they need to and were facing some very daunting challenges.

It's become a sad cliché to say that sales teams are challenged to "deliver more with less" while still being expected to hit their ever-increasing annual goals. In the past year, despite many companies ranking “Improving Sales Performance” as a top priority, a growing number of companies under-delivered the key tools that would help improve sales performance. What struck me is that many companies seem to be using a very contradictory strategy for improving performance and, unfortunately, the net result is that the entire organization may be at risk.

Here are a few tidbits:

Selling cycles have gotten longer and require more calls to close deals – It's not a surprise to anyone that budgets are now being held much closer than ever these days. With spending on such a short leash, it's going to take more effort to get a buyer to make a decision.

Lead generation isn't keeping pace with sales – A hefty 67% of the companies reported that they cut or frozen lead-gen spending – never a good way to grow sales.

Sales training investments were curtailed – Here's the old "work with what you have" approach in action.

The most surprising and somewhat ironic point was the lack of investment these companies had made in their sales infrastructure over the past year. For example:

Needed Sales Knowledge Management improvements were under-delivered – Despite making "improving their SKM" as the #2 sales effectiveness priority, less than 1 in 10 firms delivered any type of tool. Many simply decided to simply move it out to a 'next year's initiative,' with the resulting effect clearly contradicting their intent.

Lack of new sales forecasting technology enhancements or implementations - Only 12% of the firms that promised new technologies for helping their sales managers optimize pipeline/forecast management and rep coaching actually delivered it. Again, it's a "work with what you have" approach.

So, is there any good news?

CSO Insight did have some positive suggestions for helping companies get more out if their sales efforts without massive financial outlays or complicated processes.

One area that is particularly interesting is their discussion around a Sales Relationship/Process Matrix. Simply put, to improve effectiveness companies need to take a truly objective look at the way they sell and how they manage their customer relationships. Then, they need to strategically change the way they sell to match the reality. On the surface, this may seem vague and sound like something that companies routinely use as a PowerPoint buzzword, but it's just the thing that will truly make a difference. With a clear understanding about the way yourcustomer needs to be approached, you not only enhance your sales process – you ultimately effect a significant change to your sales results.

Ok, so now what? Start by getting the most out information you already have, starting with your CRM system.

Most companies have some sort of customer relationship management system, whether it's an enterprise-level CRM system, boxed software such as ACT! or even just a basic spreadsheet they use to manage their sales data. Today's modern CRM systems are able to do much more than simply keep a record of your customers' titles, addresses, and recent contact details. They give you valuable reports with tremendous insight into your sales flow—without being overly complicated. CRM systems such as CampaignerCRM have gone even further with powerful, yet easy-to-use reporting and analysis tools that allow you to look at the entire sales process to better understand your customer's needs. You can now deliver truly accurate, fact-based sales forecasts, get objective management insight and more. Many modern CRM systems are easy to use with many professional features. They're web-based for easy, secure access, deployment and maintenance within any size organization. They give powerful results and are relatively inexpensive to employ.

Once you develop a 'sales checklist' that reflects your sales process you're on your way to maximizing your CRM system. You're now able to get the information you need to manage and fine tune your sales process based on actual experience. Plus, your CRM system can enhance the process by delivering the appropriate resources, such as whitepapers, product brochures, presentations and more at each stage to help each member of your sales team to consistently move their customers toward the close.

In the end, maximizing your CRM system will allow you to quickly improve your sales effectiveness. You'll actually be able to "do more with less" so that next year, your New Year's Resolutions can be a bit more pleasant.